


Against a World Bearing Its Knives

by jeien



Category: Brave Frontier
Genre: Father Figures, Spoilers for Grand Gaia storyline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 14:50:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5295422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeien/pseuds/jeien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He offers her his sword and his service. Her smile is just as tired as the rest of her, but there’s a glint of something knowing in her eyes. Avant doesn’t ask what she’s hiding. He only asks for her name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Against a World Bearing Its Knives

**Author's Note:**

> "When the world comes for your children, with the knives out, it's your job to stand in the way."

The first thought Avant has about his new Summoner is: _She looks tired_.

A memory nudges from the back of his mind when he takes in the half-smile, the bags under her eyes, the fatigued posture—but it never surfaces. What does spring forth from the deep sea of ideas and broken memories is the need to protect this girl. He offers her his sword and his service. Her smile is just as tired as the rest of her, but there’s a glint of something knowing in her eyes. Avant doesn’t ask what she’s hiding. He only asks for her name and she tells him it’s Elia.

She tells him many things about this strange future and its current situation. She tells him that she and many other Summoners like her borrow the powers of other great warriors in order to protect the peace. She tells him that she was traversing the land to rid it of the Four Fallen Gods—with Maxwell, Cardes, and Zevalhua already defeated.

“You’re crazy,” Avant says. It’s hard to believe such a small young lady, not even out of adolescence, stood a chance against the gods and their disciples. But from what he’s seen in the short time he’s been a part of Elia’s company, she holds command over a strong group of individuals. It helps that her friends are veteran Summoners, too.

Elia huffs out a dry laugh and replies, “I don’t see you trying to stop me, though.”

“Must mean I’m a little crazy too,” he says. “Maybe a little craziness is what we need to actually end this once and for all.”

“I hope so,” Elia says before she takes out the Summoning Book to call him back. “Maybe after all everything’s done, I can stay home for a while.”

Avant figures out very quickly that Elia, despite her inexperience, will never refuse a request if it meant bringing humanity one step closer to peace. That wish for a world without strife is what bonds her to the other veteran Summoners as well as Goddess Tilith. So when Disciple Zurg confronts them with the possibility of God Lucius being the true enemy to mankind, Elia stays quiet throughout most of the week-long debate. Instead, she works on acquiring materials in order to unlock Avant’s strength. By the time they defeat Disciple Zurg and his master, Afla Dilith, Avant is at his best. The only thing left to restore are his memories—but he swells up with gratitude just from knowing Elia did so much for him already.

By the time they were finished with chasing Eriole and his army across Atharva, Avant can already see how much of a toll it’s taking on Elia. Her cheeks were slightly sunken and her skin was a little more pallid. He often finds her staring off into space now, when they aren’t fighting for their lives. Avant can’t guarantee her a favorable outcome, now that they’ve been summoned by God Lucius, nor can he give her any guidance on how to cope with not having Goddess Tilith with her. The only thing he can do is distract her.

“You know,” he says—and Elia rolls her head languidly to face him, “whenever I hold onto this sword, I see the face of a small boy in my mind. I don’t know who he is, but I feel something whenever I think of that face. It’s the same feeling I get when I look at you.”

He knows she’s holding her tongue because that glint in her eye returns as she says, “I’m flattered.”

“Yeah?”

“When you get your memories back, you’ll know why.”

The moment comes sooner than he thought. One day, Elia hands him a sphere, a deep crimson with flecks of orange and gold that radiate a familiar heat. He’s seen her hand them out to her other warriors from time to time, so he knows it’ll make him even stronger than before. He never expects the flames to engulf him and his sword—he never expects the memories and the grief to rush back all at once. Avant grieves for three days and three nights as they trudge to Bariura. Elia never voices her apologies, but he knows it hurts her when she throws herself into battle.

He approaches her for the first time since he recovered his memories after fighting Goddess Tilith in the Boruk Blazing Dunes: the group was resting after feeling the effects of the intense heat.

“Elia,” he calls out, finding her sitting at the base of a tree. She doesn’t move. _Is she hurt?_ he asks himself as he walks around the tree to get a good look at her. Elia was barely awake. He crouches down in front of her and cups her cheek—a gesture he had often used with Vargas. “Hey. You alright?”

She smiles weakly and whispers, “I don’t know, but I have to be.”

When Goddess Tilith’s voice reaches them, saying they were ready to proceed, Elia forces herself up and drags her feet forward. As she rejoins the group, Avant could only see Vargas’s back overlap with hers. They never deserved any of the burdens the world placed upon them, but they both carried that weight as far as they could—even while they were being crushed by them. Avant pushes his legs forward to catch up to them, gripping Dandelga’s hilt a little tighter. He had already lost his son, who was only supposed to have been a simple knight, to this conflict. He doesn’t want this child to become another hero if it means suffering the same end as Vargas.

He’ll fight any number of gods—even the universe itself—if it meant sparing Elia from the jaws of a cruel fate.

**Author's Note:**

> Dear god it's like 2:30 in the morning, but here I am. I have so many feels about Avant, especially concerning him and Vargas. I'll get around to writing those two eventually. 
> 
> I tried to do a mix of the in-game mechanics and the manga mechanics when it comes to things like summoning units. And trying to incorporate the Grand Gaia events was really challenging for me. Thankfully, I discovered the Memoirs bit in Randall lol (even though it was still a little hard to navigate). But I hope you enjoyed it!!


End file.
